Iqbal Ansari, whose father Hashim Ansari was the oldest litigant in the Babri case, said he is happy that the case was reaching its logical conclusion.
"For almost 70 years, Ayodhya has witnessed politics over the dispute and now I hope that the city will see some development too," he stated.
Iqbal Ansari said he had vowed to carry on the fight started by his father and had fulfilled his promise.
"My father died in July 2016. He was 95 and he worked as a tailor and then opened a cycle repair shop. He was associated with the Babri title suit since 1949 and was among those arrested for breaching public harmony when the idols of Ram were planted in the mosque," said Iqbal.
Hashim Ansari was sentenced to two years in jail in 1952 for giving 'azaan' for namaaz at the disputed site.
In 1961, Hashim Ansari and six others became the main plaintiff in the title suit filed by the Sunni Central Waqf Board in the court of the Faizabad civil judge.
"It was his wish that I should continue to contest the case after him," said Iqbal Ansari.
"Yes, I have received the invitation from Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust for the bhoomi pujan ceremony. I will certainly attend it. The dispute is over now after the court's verdict," Ansari, 69, told PTI.
"Our Prime Minister is coming. I will meet him and give him a 'Ramnami' stole (with Ram's name written on it) and Ramcharitmanas as a present," Ansari said.
His father Hashim Ansari, the oldest litigant in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi land dispute case, died at the age of 95 in 2016 after which the son started pursuing the case in the court.
Talking about Wednesday's ground-breaking ceremony to mark the beginning of the construction of a grand Ram temple here, Ansari said, "I belong to Ayodhya. All this (temple's construction) will change the fate of Ayodhya. We all want our child to get better opportunities".
He further said, "I respect sadhus and saints. I am happy to have received the invitation for the ceremony. I think it is Lord Ram's will that I attend it".
When asked what he would have done had the court decided the case in his favour, Ansari said he had wanted the construction of a school and a hospital on the disputed land.
"I feel the city needs development. The future of our children should be safe and secure and they should get employment. Dispute in the name of religion should end now and we should let the city witness a new beginning," he said.
The Supreme Court had in November last year paved the way for the construction of a Ram temple by a Trust at the disputed site of the Babri Masjid's demolition in Ayodhya, and directed the Centre to allot an alternative 5-acre plot to the Sunni Waqf Board for building a new mosque at a "prominent" place in the holy town in Uttar Pradesh.
The state government has allotted a five-acre land in Dhannipur village in Sohaval Tehsil of Ayodhya for the mosque's construction.
(PTI)
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